Why I love Curzon

If you have read my three latest movie reviews (Kill List, The Skin I Live In, and Drive), you will have noticed that I like to praise Curzon Cinemas. Personally I have only been to the one in Soho, for convenience reasons, and I love it. It has to be my favourite cinema in London, maybe even in Europe.

"We are five cinemas across London, specialising in arthouse and independent film. Join us for exclusive events and the best in world cinema." - Curzon

Here are my reasons:

They play amazing films. All the films I have seen there have been great, even though the genre has varied. They play lots of art films and independent films, along with the more special films coming from bigger producers. They also have question and answer sessions with many people involved with the making of the films, and show selected series of documentaries.

It is small, or smaller than your average cinema. This makes it have a cozy and homely feeling to it, you can go in and enjoy the warm colours of the rooms and feel like you are watching a movie at home with your family, just on a much bigger screen. The upstairs area is a bar, serving the small foods and drinks, and downstairs there are lots of sofas, on which you can enjoy wine or beers with your friends, waiting for the movies, or discussing them before or after you've seen them.

To add to the cozy feeling of the cinema, everyone is friendly. The people working there are very nice and helpful, giving you top service, but without the unauthentic feel.

The food. I love the food, the sandwiches and cakes are delicious. They also have frozen yoghurts and ice cream from smaller producers. It is something else being able to eat delicious cakes whilst watching a movie, instead of just loading up on lots of candy.

The drinks. They serve beer and wine that you can bring into the cinema. In my opinion this is amazing, as adults don't always feel like having soda and candy when in the cinema, but might enjoy, especially during more serious or more meaningful and artistic films, a glass of wine, or a cold beer.

The next film I will be seeing at the Curzon in Soho is Lars von Trier's Melancholia. I look forward to enjoying the film with some beer, or maybe even some wine, who knows?

Links:

Curzon

Melancholia

Drive

Last Friday I went to the Curzon cinema, my new London favourite. I went to the cinema for the purpose of seeing the new movie Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, and starring Ryan Gosling.

What originally intrigued me about the movie was the trailer (click here), which was in a genre of it's own, with the music, the imagery and it's overall style.

The movie looked very cool.

As I walked out, I thought to myself, "my god, I need a toothpick", all the while chanting the words of the final song of the film, 'A Real Hero' by College. Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was download the soundtrack for the movie. The soundtrack was amazing, composed by Cliff Martinez, starting with electronic heroes such as Kavinsky and Lovefoxx, traveling towards beats from Chromatics, tracks composed by Cliff Martinez himself, and gentler electronic music from College, one of my personal favourites. It is what you will imagine when I say the words "driving music," thumping inside your head, reflecting the different tensions that you feel inside your body.

The movie itself was a whole new twist to driving movies. Forget about Fast and the Furious, you need to see Drive. The driving stunts were incredible, with the cars movements documented accurately and the stunts themselves executed to perfection.

Ryan Gosling is the definition of cool in this movie, and by the time it's over, you'll be searching the internet for driving gloves and a sating scorpion jacket. He's simple and quiet, saying only what is necessary, otherwise only reacting through strong body language, however without being pompous and cocky. He stands his ground, and protects the people he cares for. He plays a man only known as "Driver", who is hollywood driving stuntman by day, getaway driver at night.

The plot itself makes the character of the Driver grow second by second, as he takes on responsibilities that are not his, and comes out on top. The film is basically about a driving job gone wrong, with Gosling behind the wheel needing to step up and take care of the situation. The action that follows is nothing short of awesome, including more driving, high aggression, fighting, forks and even shotguns.

IMDb rates the movie at 8.6/10, but I would say overall, the movie is at least a 9.5. This movie is incredible, you should grab some candy and possibly a Brooklyn Lager from Curzon, and go see it.

There is a lot of violence, but it is necessary. I will be seeing this movie for a second time soon.

Links:

Soundtrack

IMDb

Trailer

Movie clip

Curzon

Guardian review

The Skin I Live In - could it be a masterpiece?

Last week I went to the Curzon cinema in London's Soho area. Whilst a week or so before going there to see the film 'Kill List' by chance, this time I had chosen to go there specifically for Almodovar's 'The Skin I Live In.'

This is a review to an extent, however I will not reveal the most significant elements of the film. I will however tell you what it does to your mind, and why you should go see it.

My expectations were met, as the reviews praising Almodovar's newest work were quite accurate, and the film was, something in the region of spectacular.

"A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession." - IMDb

There is sex, there are drugs, and there is definately no end to surprises.

The plot was twisted and unbelievable, with the story starting slowly with Vera (Elena Anaya), seen by the viewer as a patient or victim of cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas). Around this we learn that Robert's wife had burnt to death in an accident, and that Vera has a strong resemblance to her. However, Vera is not an ordinary patient, but as said in the IMDb review, a test subject for the new and stronger, burn resistant artificial skin that Robert is trying to perfect.

From this point onwards, the story travelled backwards in time, and revealed a chain of events that would produce gasps from the audience accompanied by the odd few viewers looking to their side in disbelief. The film skipped from new to old sequences to introduce new characters, and to further the plot, and by this, furthering our insight into the crazed mindset of Robert. The events in the film make you change who you sympathise with, seeing a victim first in Robert and then in Vera.

The twists in the plot, brought in by the changes in time are simply incredible. Your mind will be in overdrive with curiosity throughout the film, with every narrative choice made by Almadovar, drawing you deeper into the film.

If you have any interest in film, or even life, you should see 'The Skin I Live In." I also recommend seeing it at Curzon, with delicious baked goods, and a beer in your hand. YES, I SAID IT - you can bring a beer into the cinema.

Links:

IMDb

Trailer

Portraits

Here are some portraits I have taken in the past year:

These were taken with my Olympus Trip 35mm camera.

Will be posting more soon...

KILL LIST - short review

Kill List is an English thriller directed by Ben Wheatley released September 2011.

Now when you normally imagine a thriller you think of something with twists and tension, however most thrillers produced these days are fairly predictable, and do not have a genuine scare in them. I went and saw Kill List yesterday night, and I can tell you, it is genuinely one of the scariest and psychologically and physically intense films I have ever seen. There is a very real sense of confusion and psychosis in the film, and it all builds up towards the end, leaving the audience completely unprepared for the events that are to unfold.

I will not go into the plot, as this can be found anywhere on the internet, however I will tell you that you should see it. It is a unique English thriller, and will raise emotions in you that you will possible not have felt before, at least not often. You will be confused, disgusted, and scared, but somehow will remain with your eyes fixed on the screen.

Barren roads of Finland

Hello

I've just turned 20 and I've decided that I should share my infinite (but very finite) knowledge of the world with everyone.

Getting straight to the point, this blog is about food, beer, photography, skateboarding, art & design and video-games.

ps. You, the reader, may have some pull in what I write about next, by choosing one of the options in the poll (but I'll probably just wing it).